New fabrication route for plasmonic metasurfaces is simple and scalable

A team of researchers including Dr Silvia Vignolini from the Department of Chemistry and scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, have demonstrated a ‘truly scalable’ fabrication route for producing plasmonic metasurfaces.

The three-step procedure allows the fabrication of robust and large-scale plasmonic metasurfaces, whose optical response can be tailored depending on the application.

The new technique harnesses aluminium. Current commercial procedures rely on more expensive gold or silver, making this technique safer and less expensive and achieving a high degree of color purity with a simple and scalable route.

“We are very proud of this work as we had a very international team, and because we successfully demonstrated a three-step procedure to fabricate robust and large scale plasmonic metasurfaces based on a random distribution of Al nanostructure," says Dr Vignolini. "The developed lithography-free method allows vivid coloration in the entire visible range, which can also be exploited as broad-band SERS substrates."